updated 09:27 am EDT, Mon April 1, 2013

Google has been granted a patent that would change the quality of a display in order to extend the battery life of a device. The patent outlines how the device could disable certain display-related aspects to lower a smartphone or tablet's power consumption, with more visual deterioration as the remaining battery charge shrinks.

A number of options could be used by the system, depending on the level of power remaining, reportsDroid-Life. Blur and animation functions can be disabled on the display at first, with extended usage leading to a decrease in resolution, and in an extreme example, for the display to show only the red and black colors.

Though the patent could potentially help smartphones to last longer while the power requirements of the device increases with each successive release of model, it is possible that at least the basic display downgrades could make their way to handsets and tablets in the future.